Precision 7530 & Precision 7730 owner's thread

I did change SATA mode and IIRC I just needed Windows to do a repair to activate the correct drivers for the AHCI mode. The repair option should by available from the bluescreen you saw.

You could also try this step by step solution: https://triplescomputers.com/blog/u...ch-windows-10-from-raidide-to-ahci-operation/

 

Hi,

Yes, it is confirmed/assumed that the P5200 is a reduced power version. However, if you happen to have seen the benchmarks I posted earlier, the P4200 is full power and seems to outperform the P5200 (in FireStrike, at least). Unless you have a specific need for the extra VRAM, I'd say the P4200 is a better purchase. It seems to perform better and saves you a good chunk of money, budget that you can spend on other things such as SSD drives.

That said, and to adress your request for alternatives, either a P3200 or P2000 may be powerful enough for your work in solidworks. That would allow you to go back to 15" models. Although the P3200 in the 7530 is reduced in power, it's still a quite powerful card. There's also more competing products in that size. There's also the eGPU path to consider.

 

You must take some steps if switching from RAID to AHCI. It's pretty easy.
With Windows booted in RAID mode...
* Click Start button, click power button, hold "Shift" while clicking the "Restart" option.
* After shutdown, you'll get a menu. Find the option for "Advanced startup settings" or some such.
* When the PC finishes rebooting, go to the BIOS and switch it to AHCI.
* Next, you'll get the Windows advanced startup options. Pick the option for "Safe mode".
* Once safe mode boots successfully, reboot to normal mode and you should be all set.

 

Have contacted DELL regarding my screen / TB18 issues. First approach was to update the docks firmware:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/es/es/esbsdt1/drivers/driversdetails?driverId=H3YG7

1.) I was not aware that the dock itself has a firmware.
2.) Update didn´t start because attached dock is not supported (marked as TB16 update).
3.) Now it seems that my dock will be replaced.

Can someone confirm that update will start with other TB18 dock ?

Interesting:
If you unzip (7z) the file you will find a 'Synaptics' folder with release notes regarding the DP hub firmware. So last update was in 06.2017 and there seems to be some really bad bugs...

Edit:
- DELL confirmed that update is for TB16 only...
- Dock will not be replaced however an updated firmware shall be distributed...

 

Thank you.
I noticed one more wierd issue with the display. I don't know what is it because I have never seen that before. It looks like the screen has some very small bright particulars or it may look like there is a film on the screen. I don't see that issue on the 7520.

 

Did you already install this firmware update for the TB18DC?
https://www.dell.com/support/home/de/de/dedhs1/drivers/driversdetails?driverId=TT77T

I'll receive a new Dock because of the USB drop outs tomorrow or the day after - hope that helps...

 

I was also not aware that a TB16 dock firmware update had been published. We have some TB16 docks around here. Now I'll have to update them...

I checked the digital signature on the update file and it has a date from March 2018. So they would have had plenty of time to get this update into shipped TB18 docks (June) if it indeed applied to those docks.

I'll keep an eye out for updated TB18 firmware but I'm not sure where to look for it, for example this TB16 dock firmware update doesn't show up on the Precision 7510 updates page.

[Edit]
@SvenC
That update is for the Intel Thunderbolt controller (inside the laptop), it doesn't update firmware in the dock. I have that update installed and still have I/O and power issues with the dock.

[Edit 2]
Hello, there are actually update pages just for the docks.
http://ftp.dell.com/published/Pages/dell-thunderbolt-dock-tb16.html
http://ftp.dell.com/published/Pages/dell-thunderbolt-dock-tb18dc.html

 

Nice, but no new drivers/firmware for the TB18DC so far. Hope they find a fix...

 

Yes. This firmware is installed (as aaron mentioned it is for the laptop not the dock). DELL affirmed that I will get the new firmware the day after tomorrow...we will see...
Do we have any option to read current installed dock firmware version to compare them ?

 

The step-by step solution worked like a champ. Thanks! As an aside, I was reminded of how important it is to have a local administrator account available (at least for this solution) when changing SATA mode away from RAID.